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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26840521">Struggles Throughout the Night</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/hades_17/pseuds/hades_17'>hades_17</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Blood and Violence, Canon Gay Relationship, Canon Lesbian Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Heavy Angst, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s), Original Character-centric, Original Universe, Smoking, Zombie Apocalypse</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 12:52:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,076</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26840521</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/hades_17/pseuds/hades_17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"Attention! A pandemic of some sort has broken out into the public, turning people into mindless walking corpses. We advise you to stay inside until the authorities arrive to bring you to a safer place."</p><p> </p><p>A wonderful life, torn apart by this apocalypse.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>32</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Apocalypse</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She couldn't breathe. Where was she? It was dark and hazy. She could make out a blurry figure in the distance, taller than her and more masculine. Who was that...?</p><p>*****</p><p>"Oi..." someone waved in front of her face, snapping her out of her thoughts. It was Tenshi, the current leader of the group. "Good, you're awake..." Tenshi grabbed her hand and pulling her upwards. "You okay, Vin?" someone besides her asked. Yuzu, the blond idiot who got them into this mess. "Yeah, I'm fine..." Vin rubbed her eyes and held Tenshi's hand to not get lost. "Guys! I found something!!" Star yelled out to them. Everyone rushed to where he was and inspected the thing. It was a gun, dirty with dirt and dust. "A machine gun, well, half of a machine gun," Washoi spoke, caressing the dirty gun in his hand. "We better get o-" Blake's ears perked up, as she held onto her mace tighter. "Now," she whispered, ushering everyone out the building, slowly but surely. Vin still held on to Tenshi's hand, scared of letting it go. "Ah-" she tripped. Typical. Vin got up and dusted off the dirt and looked around. Wait... where is everyone? "Shit..."</p><p>*****</p><p>"Damnit!" Aisu banged the radio, the static seemingly getting louder and louder. She had stayed back at base to guard it and take care of an injured Fugaya. She sighed and rubbed her temples, the headache from before still buzzed in her ear. "Who's there?" she asked loudly, waiting for an alter to appear and ruin her day. Or maybe make it better. Surprisingly, no one responded. She pushed back into her seat, listening to the static noises from the radio. Fugaya groaned in the distance as they moved around in the sheets, the pain on their shoulder was unbearable. They had been shot by accident while trying to grab something on the ground, something important. Fugaya opened her eyes, the yellow spots made them disoriented. They took out the thing they found and looked at it, it was part of a keychain. A butterfly broken in half, one wing was missing while the other was stained with blood. </p><p>They smiled dryly and placed the keychain back and spun around the protect themselves from the cold.</p><p>*****</p><p>"Motherfucker!" Hayden yelled as he swung his axe another time to break down the door. "Why. won't. you..." he swung again and the door finally bent. He threw his axe to the side and peeled open the door with his hands. He grabbed his axe again and walked out into the sunlight, squinting his eyes a bit. He wiped the blood from under his mouth, held his axe tightly and looked around. The city he used to live in was in ruins, vines grew everywhere with dead bodies littered at every corner. The moaning from the undead could be heard around the few corners. He glanced behind him to a tied up zombie moaning towards him, asking to be let out. "Look at what you've done..." he stared right into the monster's dead eyes.</p><p>"Shouldn't have released that fume, huh, Jeanne?"</p><p>*****</p><p>"Where's Vin?" Blake asked, noticing her absence. "What...? I thought she was holding my hand?" Tenshi stared behind her. "Do... we need to go in?" Valerie hid behind Tenshi, shaking softly. Blake pursed her lips as she stared at the ruins. "I'm going in..." she said, holding on to her mace tightly. "Blake-" Tenshi said to her, wanting to warn her. "I'll be fine," Blake said and ran back into the ruins of the community center. Her footsteps disappeared into the darkness as Tenshi stared towards it. "We're going back..." she finally said. "Tenshi-" "Blake can take care of herself..." she interrupted Washoi's sentence. She turned around and started walking back to the base. "Let's just follow her..." Yuzu said, following Tenshi with the others behind her.</p><p>"Stay safe, Blake...."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Retribution</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Test #180: Subject dem0n</p><p>The subject has yet again, not responded to the serum we had injected it. It seems the subject is immune to everything we had give it. The subject doesn't respond to anything, normal chatter, or experiment guidelines. My guess is that we need to let this experiment go.</p><p>...This was professor Jeanne reporting</p><p>*****</p><p>"Finally..." Aisu said, hearing footsteps behind her. "What did you f-" she turned, "Where's Vin and Blake?" she stood up, holding the chair she was sitting on. "Vin broke apart from the group so Blake went back..." Tenshi said, glancing towards Fugu. "Are they okay?" she whispered. "Yeah, they've been sleeping for a while now..." Aisu sighed, playing with her hair. Everyone spread out and did their own thing. Aisu turned to the doorless room, seeing Yuzu on Fugaya's bed. "Hey..." she walked over. "Aisu, hey..." Yuzu replied, pushing her hair behind her ear. "It's my fault... I should've shot that shot..." she started to cry, her suppressed tears from the guilt. "Hey, hey, it's fine..." Aisu held her hand. "Yeah, yeah..." the blonde muttered, her tears disappearing. Aisu stroked the blonde slowly, reassuring her that everything is fine. Footsteps could be heard at the front door, only for Hayden to appear. "Oh, hey Hay-" Tenshi tried to speak, only to be interrupted by Star rushing to hug the arriving male. "Hey..." Hayden said, stroking the pink-haired hugger. "Sorry I was late, taking care of some stuff..." he said, putting his axe at the side and tried to peel Star off with his hands. "Don't worry, we just got back too." Tenshi played with her hair, "Blake stayed back to find Vin-" "Vin's missing?" Hayden's ears perked up, "Yeah, she accidentally strayed from the group." she continued.</p><p>"Hope they're fine..."</p><p>*****</p><p>Vin was not fine.</p><p>She had been running around for a while now, her rabbit plushie in her hand. Where is she? All she could see was darkness, all she could hear was the groaning zombies. She decided to rest, waiting for someone to find her. <em>I'm gonna die...</em> she said, putting her hands up to her head. Not wanting to hear the zombies in the darkness. She held her plushie tightly and sobbed.</p><p>
  <em>Someone, please find me...</em>
</p><p>*****</p><p>"Done." the sound of a chainsaw had died down. "What was the point of that...?" a taller male stared at the broken metal door that Var had used her chainsaw on. "Don't be like that, Nioh~ It's fun!" Var responded. Nioh sighed, pushing his red bangs with his hand. "Let's go inside, maybe Twisty is in here!" Var strutted inside, Nioh tried to warn her as he sighed. "Here we go again..." he said, entering the old abandoned gymnasium.</p><p>*****</p><p>"Vin!" a voice, but whose? "Vin, where are you?!" Vin looked up to the darkness. The left side had groaning zombies coming closer, the right side had someone yelling her name. She got up and stood, slowly making her way to the voice that's calling for her. "Hello?" she called out to that person. "Vin?! Where are you?!" it was Blake, her soothing voice calling out for her. "Blake! I'm over here!" why was she saying that, no way Blake could find her. "Just follow my voice, Vin!" Blake said and Vin did just that. She stumbled to Blake's voice as she said some encouraging things to guide her. A few minutes had passed and Vin saw Blake's bright blue side hairs and ran towards her, hugging her. "It's okay, you're fine now..." Blake reassured her. They exited the community center and closed it tight with chains. "No way they're going to break open this." Blake confidently said, holding her mace tight. "Thanks..." Vin started to tear up, only for Blake to wipe it away. "Shhh, it's okay..." she whispered "Now, let's go back to base, hmm?" she started to move but stopped. "Blake?" Vin called out to her. Blake turned to the east, readying her mace. "Blake, what's wrong?" Vin looked at her, holding her plushie tightly. All Blake could do was look at her in horror.</p><p>"I can hear Eupho and Fork's voice... They're in trouble..."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. First for Everything</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>He saved me.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>All I can remember was the school burning down and zombies breaking into the school, eating everyone's face off. He had thrown a chair to one of the undead things and tried to escape with me. I was the first to exit the building, with no sight of that classmate. A fire had started at the right wing of the building and it had made its way over to the central building, licking the walls with its flames. A few minutes had passed, the classmate that was with me was nowhere to be seen.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The building had exploded. Classy was still nowhere to be seen.</em>
</p><p>*****</p><p>"Hey!" Reiu appeared at the door. She placed the bloody golf club at the side of the ripped sofa and sat on it. Leia walked in after, her baseball bat thrown across the floor. "Hey, how was scouting?" Tenshi asked her, kissing Reiu on the forehead. "It was fun, I guess," Leia replied. "Some zombies out north. A lot around southwest..." she took the apple on the table and ate it. "Where's Bla-" "Stayed behind to find Vin," Star replied, cutting in Reiu's sentence. Reiu gave an expression that meant she still didn't understand but shrugged it off. "I'm going out..." Yuzu announced, walking out the door with her rifle in hand. "I'm going with you," Reiu said, standing up only for Tenshi to grab her arm. "Are you sure?" she asked, her voice shaky. "Yeah, I'm sure..." her girlfriend replied, kissing Tenshi on the cheeks before grabbing her golf club and followed Yuzu. Tenshi gulped down her anxiety and stood up, grabbing her scythe and followed Reiu and Yuzu. </p><p>"Stay safe."</p><p>*****</p><p>Cold. Dark. Noisy.</p><p>He couldn't see where he was going. He looked down at his hands. The memories of being an experiment drowned him, the scars on his hands were inconsistent. Three on the left side, five on the right. Four on the right, ten on the left. He could go on. One step, two steps, three steps.</p><p>Where was he?</p><p>Why can't he see?</p><p>His eyesight started to become dark, his breathing almost gone. </p><p>And there he was, collapsed on the ground.</p><p>*****</p><p>Everything happened so fast.</p><p>Reiu, Tenshi and Yuzu had split up to cover more ground and kill more of the undead. Tenshi was adamant to be with Reiu at all times, leaving Yuzu to investigate the northwest. The couple had stayed in an awkward silence until Tenshi opened her mouth. "Hey, Reiu..." Reiu answered with a soft 'hmm'. "Can I ask you something?" Tenshi fidgeted. "Sure, what's up?" Reiu answered, backing up to walk beside Tenshi. "Um, have you thought about Leia?" she asked, twirling her hand with her free hand. "What do you mean?" the other girl stared at her, "Y'know, just in case if I died... Would you, take care of her?" Reiu stared dead into her lover's eyes. "Of course, I would." she kissed her on the forehead. "Than-" the sound of groaning behind them got louder, as they turned around to see a horde of zombies chasing them. Tenshi bit her lip, carried Reiu, and started running. She looked around and saw the ruins of an old restaurant. She ran towards there with Reiu still on her shoulders. Upon arriving, Tenshi laid Reiu down on the floor and held on to her scythe. "Ten-" Tenshi placed a finger on her girlfriend's lips, silencing her.</p><p>"I love you," she said as she charged into the horde of zombies.</p><p>*****</p><p>Yuzu was tired, she had been staring down to the ground and her rifle for a while now, only to see nothing. She sighed and continued walking, only to see a figure in the distance. "Who-" she asked before running towards them to assist. "Hey, you okay?" Yuzu asked, checking their pulse and breath. <em>Still alive, they're only unconscious. </em>She carried them on her shoulder and brought them to base.</p><p>The white-haired male on her shoulders...</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Good Morning, my dear</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sunlight spilled into the curtains, the loud sparrow chirped outside in a beautiful rhythm. Hayden's soft snoring was interrupted by the sound of the alarm clock on his bedside table. He groaned as he reached out to shut the annoying device. He sat up, groaning at the pain on his back and scratched his hair, playing with the green streaks in his bangs. He stretched and sat up, grabbing his glasses to assist his blurry eyes. He massaged the bridge of his nose, standing up and walked down as he is still in his underwear, smelling breakfast downstairs.</p><p>He followed the scent to the kitchen, hugging his pink-haired husband, who jumped a bit from the sudden embrace. "Good morning~" Star turned to kiss the taller male on the cheek. "Eh, bacon and eggs again~?" Hayden faked a whine, even a pout. "Well, you ain't getting this, then." Star teased him, shrinking himself to escape the hug and walked away with three servings of their everyday breakfast. "Fine, I'm sorry..." Hayden pouted and sat at the dining table, where Kiri had been drawing for the past 10 minutes. "Whatcha doin', little one?" Hayden peered over, his daughter finally looking up. "I'm drawing a dream I had!!" Kiri responded, showing a smile that is missing 5 teeth. "Oh, that's cool!" Hayden responded, being more intrigued by what the small child was drawing. A pink circle surrounded by blue squiggles, a smiley face at the corner, her 'signature' as she called it.  "I don't remember much, but I saw these!!" Kiri said, showing the drawing to Star, who laughed and stroked the child's hair. "Now, eat so I can send you to school," he said, sitting on a chair next to Hayden as he stared at his daughter.</p><p>He smiled, looking down to his plate and started to eat, his eyes eventually trailed to his husband's scar filled back. Sighing, he looked up, seeing Hayden's crimson eyes glancing at him. Star blushed softly and stared back to his plate, tried to continue eating. He flicked on the television, a newscast had come on about an explosion at a rather well-known research facility outside of the city. Star closed it immediately, not wanting Kiri to see any more of the broadcast. "What was that about?" Kiri turned to her dads, who are both equally in shock. "Probably, nothing. Now, let's get you ready for school." Star stood up and carried Kiri, kissing Hayden on the cheeks in the process. "Have fun at work." he said, "It's probably going to be a news article about that broadcast..." Hayden groaned, finishing his breakfast.</p><p>A weird sounding groan could be heard outside, but he didn't bother to check.</p><p>*****</p><p>"Guh..." Star groaned at the traffic, leading to Kiri's school. Hayden sat at the passenger's seat, uncomfortably looking out to the smoke in the sky. "Kiri, if something ever happens, run straight to your father, 'kay?" Hayden said, the unconcerned child only nodded. "What do you mean?" Star asked his husband, who adjusted his necktie as he felt as if it was choking him. Star honked the cars in front of them, impatiently tapping the wheel of the car. Hayden looked around, his heart pounding as if it wanted to escape his chest, his hand shaking from anxiety. "What's taking so long, god..." Star said, his hand rested on the door handle, only for Hayden's to touch his lover's right hand. "Don't... I'll check..." he said, exiting the car to look. The bridge was packed to the brim, almost everyone was out of their cars investigating what was taking so long. He squinted and saw what looked like someone rushing over, but something about their posture is... off, to say the least. They were limping, their left arm seemed to be gone and blood spewed everywhere. He stayed at the car's side, ready to get inside at any second. Someone had walked forward and asked the limping figure, by the looks of the mouth flaps he asked if they were okay.</p><p>That was when it happened.</p><p>The figure snapped its neck towards the one who asked about their condition and jumped on him, ripping his neck's skin and eating the flesh. Everyone panicked, making noise and causing a commotion which in turn summoned more of those monsters from where the first one came from. Hayden frozen in shock managed to jump back into the car and stared back at Kiri and Star. Star was staring back, his eyes frozen in shock while Kiri didn't move, the doll in her hand dropped to the ground. Hayden pursed his lips, and went to the back seat, unbuckling Kiri and carried her. Star understood what he was doing and unbuckled his seatbelt too, moving to the passenger's seat and searched for the glove cabinet, his hands shaking from fear. Kiri sobbed into Hayden's shoulder as he whispered encouragement, "It's okay, sweetie..." he tried to steady his beating heart, as he frantically searched for something at the bottom of his seat. Star came up with a handgun, some ammo and a dagger used for hunting. He grabbed Hayden's briefcase, moved the office supplies over and shoved the things in it.</p><p>"I can carry her." Star volunteered to bring his daughter, slowly carrying her and hugged her, calming her down. Hayden pulled out a couple of extra worn out guns and another hunting knife. Being interested in hunting really does wonders. He grabbed Kiri's bag, dumped everything out and placed the items inside, also adding the ones in his briefcase too. He kept Kiri's stuff inside his bag as he shouldered the child's bag along with the briefcase in hand. "Come on, stay near me..." he said, kissing Star on the forehead and walked out of the car, slowly but surely. Star followed suit, Kiri still in his hands as she was sobbing softly. Hayden opened the trunk and found his favorite axe, shoving it in the backpack. "Come on," he said, slowly going back into the road they came from. The groaning and screaming got louder as he turned around, the chaotic scene getting closer and closer. He bit his lip, loosening his tie and popping one button out for more air to enter his lungs. "We're running..." Hayden looked back to his family, "What?! Are you insane?!" Star yelled, "We have no choice..." Hayden bit his lips and started running, the things in Kiri's backpack hit against each other. Star looked back to the chaos and groaned, having no choice he started running.</p><p>At the end of the road, a car had stopped at the bridge. A pastel yellow car, with one person driving it. "Get in!" Aisu yelled, eyeing Hayden and Star as she exited her vehicle. They entered the pastel yellow car, Hayden at the front while Star sat at the back, calming Kiri down. Aisu revved up the engine and floored the gas paddle, only for a rock to hit the windshield and made her crash on the sidewalk.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Lies and Comfort</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Done." Hayden sighed, putting down his axe. Reiu was ready with the cloth and wrapped Tenshi's amputated arm, as she cringed. "You shouldn't barge yourself into a horde of zombies next time..." Hayden said, playing with his axe. "Yeah, sorry, I was trying to be a hero..." Tenshi replied. "Well, I'm glad you're alive," Reiu bent over and kissed her on the forehead. Hayden let out a breath he had been holding in before turning to scowl at the white-haired on the couch. Yuzu had brought him back with no discussion between the group because, as she said, she 'found him laying on the ground'. Hayden had found bite marks on his neck and scars on his arms. If he turns into those things, the first thing Hayden is doing is chopping his head off. "Ow-" Vin flinched. She and Blake were sitting at the opposite chair, with Blake tending to her wounds. "After the alcohol comes the bandage, don't worry," Blake reassured her as she wiped the wound clean and wrapped it. "See? Now, stay off your leg for a few more days, no running." Blake told her and packed up the medical equipment. Yuzu walked into the room with food on a tray and placed it on the coffee table.</p><p>"Yuzu, can I talk to you?" Hayden called out to her, moving his head towards an empty bedroom. He locked the door and crossed his arms, not bothering to say what he was gonna say. "I know what you called me for..." Yuzu responded to the silence, "Look, I know he looks suspicious with the bite marks and scars but please give him a chance..." she said, "We're in a dangerous situation and we need to save anyone at all cost, no matter if they're infected or not..." she clasped her hands together. "So, please, give him another chance..." she begged him. Hayden only sighed. "Fine," he said, "But if he turns into those things, the first thing he sees is my axe..." he unlocked the door and let Yuzu out, with him lagging behind. Hayden took a look around the room. It was a simple bedroom and surprisingly, one of the rooms that are still intact. No cracks or a broken roof. Hayden sat on one of the beds and look down at his feet. After a while, he could see a pair of white shoes which made him looked up. It was Star. His hair was undone, evidenced by the messy hair and crease lines. His t-shirt seemed too big for him but he didn't mind, a pair of not so short shorts hid under them. Ah, Star, going through Hayden's clothes again.</p><p>"What's wrong?" Star sat beside his husband, holding the other male's hand. "Nothing... Just stressed." Hayden replied. Star stroked his lover's hand, which was bigger than his own, with his thumb. "It'll be okay..." he said, leaning over to Hayden and made sure his head landed on the other's shoulder. "I love you..." he said, which made Hayden smile. "I love you too..." he replied, his arms wrapped around his husband's waist. "I'll do anything to keep you alive..." Star said, his words hung in the air like mist, a type of mist ready to combine itself with the air and disappear.</p><p>*****</p><p>"Var, are you sure about this...?" Nioh said, removing rocks from his shoulders. "It'll be fun!!" she responded, her chainsaw in hand. Nioh shuddered thinking about the number of zombies she had killed with that thing. "You said we're gonna find Twisty?" Nioh asked again, making sure that's what he heard from her. "Twisty?" Var turned to him, her face confused. "Ah, nevermind..." Nioh quickly added, not wanting to get into that conversation. He almost had forgotten that Var was amnesiac. After the train accident with Washoi, she went through a coma that lasted for a week and obtained amnesia. They walked into the gymnasium deeper, vines grew from the walls and cracks on the floor were visible. The lights hung away from their bases and were ready to drop. Nioh hurried behind Var to make sure he didn't get hit with any of them. "Look!" Var pointed. Surely enough, it was a person. They seemed to be crouching to hide, with the black clothes Nioh wouldn't have spotted them. Var charged towards them before Nioh could react. "W-wait...!" he ran towards her.</p><p>The crouching person looked over at the rushing Var and stood up, embracing her. "Thank god, you two are here..." they said, sobbing. "Twisty?" Nioh asked, recognizing her from the hair. Twisted pulled away from Var and smiled, "I miss you guys..." she said, almost close to crying. "Uhm, cheesed to meet you...?" Var said, handing her a block of cheese from her pocket. "Eh...?" Twisted stared at her but accepted the cheese. "Ah, right..." she realized and started eating the cheese. "Let's get out of here, this place gives me the creeps..." Nioh urged them and started walking before hearing a way too familiar groan from behind him. He turned to see a zombie, no multiple zombies, making their way towards Twisted. He went over to both of them and grabbed their hands, running as fast as he could to the exit.</p><p>*****</p><p>Test #195: Subjects dem0n and ang3l</p><p>It appears that test subject ang3l is refusing to attack test subject dem0n. Both of them have been staring at each other for the past ten minutes. Subject dem0n shows no sign of any kind of emotion while subject ang3l is staring at them with... concerned eyes? It seems they teamed up with each other, which is quite unnatural for test subject dem0n. We had to stop this experiment twenty minutes earlier due to how uncooperative both test subjects were. Tests will be resumed on the very next day. Has the director not gotten my request to shut down the project? Have I not made it clear that this project was going nowhere? Sigh, this was professor Jeanne reporting...</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Starlight</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Test #205: Subjects dem0n and ang3l</p><p>Sir, I swear to god. How many times do I have to say that this project is going <em>nowhere</em><em>? </em>We are shutting it down now! The two subjects won't even exit their rooms. I have asked for this request millions of times and you're not responding! I'm done. And, if you ignore this message about shutting down the project, then feel free to fire me! I don't care anymore. I know what's good for this project and I want it down! This was Professor Jeanne reporting.</p><p>*****</p><p>He couldn't sleep. Hayden tossed and turned in his bed, his body ached from the trip outside today. He tried to close his eyes and sleep but couldn't. His mind is overflowing with unpleasant thoughts. The phone call with his mother during the pandemic announcement, Tenshi almost turning into those things... He groaned softly as he looked over to Star sleeping happily beside him. He smiled and stroked his husband's cheek, reminding himself that he was a lucky man. "What would I do without you?" he carefully moved himself out of the bed, trying to not disturb his lover's rest. He reached out for his favorite axe, gripping it tightly. Even after barricading the whole building and making sure that those things couldn't enter, he wasn't able to shake the feeling that someone might get hurt. He quietly walked to the rooftop, enjoying the cool. His eyes gazed at the night sky, trapped by the waves of stars. Hayden sighed as he remembered how he met Star. He was crying alone at night on his apartment rooftop, that was when he appeared asking if he was okay. He told how his brother had disappeared which is the reason why his parents were breaking up. Star only smiled and grabbed his hand, saying that it'll be okay. The moon had shone so brightly on Star's face, making him more beautiful. Oh, how he wanted to return to the good old days, where they would lie next to each other and wait for both to fall asleep. Their fingers entwined as they sipped hot chocolate in front of the fireplace during winter. They were simple days yet full of happiness.</p><p>"The moon is pretty tonight, ain't it?" a voice came from behind him, which made him swing the axe in his hand, barely missing the person's neck by an inch. The stranger moved back, unfazed by his actions. "Hey, hey, no need for hostility." said the white-haired man. The moon reflected itself on the scars on his cheek, old yet it seemed fresh. Hayden scoffed, putting his axe down and leaned his hand against it. "You're the guy Yuzu found on the street," he said, his crimson eyes bore into the other's bored looking gold ones. "What the fuck are you doing here?" he gripped his axe, ready to chop his head off if he tried something. He stared at the figure's eyes, they were empty. No emotion, no fear, nothing. They looked like the void. A chill ran down his spine, he didn't even hear footsteps or felt a presence around him. He bit his lip, thinking. <em>What the fuck is this guy? </em>"I was just curious about this place. It's nothing like I've seen before..." the white-haired replied. Hayden scoffed, looking up to the sky. "Have you not seen a rooftop or something?" he glared at the stranger, who chuckled at Hayden's remark. "Well, I haven't really..." the stranger's smile seemed melancholic, he stared up at the sky. Hayden was still wary of him, holding tight on his axe so that he will be prepared if he's attacked so suddenly.</p><p>The stranger looked at him with bored eyes, he looks as if he was contemplating whether or not to trust Hayden or not. "I know you're still scared of me..." he said, shivering a bit at the cold. "How about we go back to sleep?" he asked, trying to sound as if he cared. Hayden sighed and went to the door first, exiting the rooftop immediately, not wanting to talk to the other male already. He crawled back to bed with Star with his axe laying next to the door. He held Star close as he was falling asleep, on alert the whole night about the weirdo Yuzu brought in. He struggled to sleep so he played with his husband's hair before closing his eyes and falling asleep, drifting off to the land of dreams, only for nightmares to take it's place.</p><p>*****</p><p>"Ugh..." Nioh groaned, poking at the fire he had created. They were in a secluded ruined building, hiding for the night before leaving the next morning. Var was laying next to him, already fast asleep. Twisted, on the other hand, was patrolling the area, making sure that there was no single thing that can cause a zombie entering and attacking them when they're asleep. Nioh sighed and laid on the floor, tired from poking at the fire. As there was no ceiling for the building, it showed the night sky in which stars were sparkling at every inch. He felt like a little kid again, looking up to the sky and wishing upon a shooting star. The nostalgia made his heart ache, reminding himself that he was a teen now. He couldn't just time travel back to when he was a kid again and at his old neighbourhood. He couldn't even remember his favourite neighbour's face, the way they acted or their smile. He closed his eyes, sighing. He wanted to see his old friend again, but how? He pondered on this thought before falling asleep as he heard footsteps come into the room.</p><p>*****</p><p>
  <em>I believe in you.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>...</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Please, talk to me...</em>
</p><p>
  <em>...</em>
</p><p>
  <em>...</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Please...</em>
</p><p>
  <em>...</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I..</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I just want to see you smile...</em>
</p><p>
  <em>To see you... get out of here...</em>
</p><p>
  <em>...</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Just... go with the plan... okay?<br/></em>
</p><p>
  <em>...</em>
</p><p>
  <em>...</em>
</p><p>
  <em>...Fine...</em>
</p><p>
  <em>...</em>
</p><p>
  <em>...Thank you...</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Dear diary...</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Hmm..."</p><p>Someone looked away from a telescope. It was night time, and the sound of zombies were behind the person, barred by steel bars. They placed the telescope away and sat back, admiring the moon in the sky and the sound of helpless zombies behind them. "Survivors, huh?" they scoffed, falling back to sleep.</p><p>*****</p><p>Dear diary,</p><p>This is Kiri!</p><p>Today, dad didn't send me to school. He won't tell me why, though! We've been staying at Aunt Yuzu's house for a while now. Why won't we go back home?! I can't even go to my friend's house... That friend won't even pick up the phone! The other day, someone came over to the house but daddy had shot them. Looks like it was a thief! Well, that's all from me, diary! Bye bye!!</p><p>*****</p><p>Dear diary,</p><p>This is Kiri again!</p><p>Dad said that the school has a whole month holiday! Wooo! I want to call some friends but for some reason, daddy won't let me call them!! I tried to call them at night when dad and daddy are asleep but no one picked up! It's so fustrating- frustating- frustrating??? I can't spell... At night, my friends are always awake because they're doing homework! No one wants to talk to me on holiday!!! Well, that's all from me, diary! Bye bye!!</p><p>*****</p><p>Star covered Kiri with the blanket and kissed her good night before exiting the room, closing the door softly. He sighed, picking at his fingers. Star turned on his heel and went towards his and Hayden's bedroom. Hayden was currently out, inspecting the surrounding area with Aisu and Yuzu. He slipped into his room silently and shut the door softly, sighing as he took off his outfit for a shower. He stared at the cuts on his body as the water ran down his figure, blood seeped down to the floor from a fresh cut that he had got this morning. He grimaced at the wound and stopped the shower, wiping the wound with some antiseptic and bandaged it up, cringing at the pain a bit. "At least it's not like Tenshi's..." he mumbled to himself, grabbing the bloody pipe laying on the shower room floor and washed the red liquid off. "When will this ever be cured..." he mumbled, wanting to go back to his old life. The outbreak had been going on for five years now, Kiri had to miss five years of school and she's already suffering from the stress of the apocalypse. Star fixed his hair and tied it in a ponytail, chuckling as he remember how much Hayden would play with his hair whenever they would cuddle with each other before all of this happened. He took a towel and wiped off the water from his body and hair, tying the towel around his hips and exited the shower.</p><p>"Daddy?" Kiri appeared in the room as Star was searching for any sort of clothing in one of the drawers. "Yeah?" he looked over to his daughter, who walked over to him and grabbed his leg. "I had a nightmare..." Kiri held back tears, Star smiled softly and picked her up. "There, there..." he muttered to Kiri, who wiped the tears from her eyes. "You can sleep with daddy, 'kay?" he reassured her, who nodded and went to her dads' bed. Star smiled and continued clothing search, finding a white t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. He went over to the bed and laid next to his already sleeping daughter. "Goodnight..." he muttered under his breath and hugged her before falling asleep as Hayden entered the room, looking bloody as always.</p><p>*****</p><p>...</p><p>...</p><p>It's 2 o'clock in the morning.</p><p>Nioh sat up and rubbed his eyes, wishing he could go back to sleep. "Tch..." he muttered, grabbing the rope dagger that was next to him and went outside, careful not to step on either Twisted or Var. He looked at his dirty watch. <em>2:45 a.m.</em> it said. Though, he wasn't quite sure if he should trust this watch. He wandered around the broken building, flipping his dagger around. He tried to count sheep to feel more tired but it didn't help, of course. His surroundings were dark, almost nothing was in sight. At the corner of his eye, a surviving sidewalk light flickered, giving light to the ground in front of it. For a moment, it seemed like there was a figure under the sidewalk light but it disappeared after the light flickered again. He breathed out a sigh, not wanting to freak out in the middle of the night when two of his companions were asleep. Just at the corner of his eye, something else flickered. He turned his head towards the direction of the flicker, seeing what looked like a figure on top of a ruined office building. He squinted his eyes, careful not to stray further from the building he was from. He didn't noticed the groaning coming from behind him as he tried to see what was on top of that office building. The groaning sounded louder as he turned around and slashed his dagger at the zombie's face, leaving a scratch at it's eye. He backed away, readying the dagger in his hand. The thing got up and stared right at him, before jumping towards him. Only for a bullet to poke through it's chest, shooting it down. Nioh grabbed at his own chest, trying to calm his heartbeat down. "Jesus..." he mumbled, standing up and chopped the zombie's head with his rope dagger just in case.</p><p>He turned towards the source of the bullet, only to see nothing on the ruined office building. "Thank god..." he muttered under his breath, shaking his right arm to shake off the blood from his arm. "Shit." he cursed and walked back to the building where Twisted and Var were. He went to sleep with some difficulty, thinking about the person on that office's rooftop. "At least, I didn't die... right?" he muttered to himself before finally falling asleep.</p><p>*****</p><p>
  <em>Blood.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>How...?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Aren't you... immune to the virus?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Fuck...</em>
</p><p>
  <em>...</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Why?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Why, god why...?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>...</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Why not me?</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Life's Aftermath</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>I'm sorry</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I'm sorry</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I'm sorry</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I'm... sorry...</em>
</p><p>
  <em>...</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Please...</em>
</p><p>*****</p><p>Star wiped the blood off of Hayden's bicep and cheek, the other groaning as the cloth wiped at a fresh scar from the current day's raid. "Maybe, that'll teach you to not run into Valerie's knife..." Star huffed, holding his husband's hand. Hayden's eyes looked tired, his insomnia was way worse then before all of this happened. He would find him, still awake at 2 in the morning, doing some paperwork. Star would always worry about him, worried that he wouldn't function properly from the lack of sleep. Now, the bags under his eyes were darker, his eyes looked more and more paler. "I just wanted to protect them..." Hayden growled, stopping slowly when Star sighed. "In the end, they wanted to protect you all, right?" Star said, his voice trailing off. The loss they had this morning... Tenshi... Their most valuable member. Now, gone. Gone to those creatures. Star didn't know what happened, he was at the base all day, 'home' schooling Kiri and taking care of Fugu. When they came back, Reiu was crying and Leia seemed shocked, her eyes were wide open and didn't move. Hayden ushered them to the back room to mourn for their lost as the others tried to go about their day, not wanting to think about how one of them is... dead.</p><p>"I failed her. It's all my fault." Hayden cursed, clutching at a nearby item, trying to release his stress. Star simply sighed as he applied a bandage on the wound, wiping at some of the seeping blood. Hayden growled under his breath, <em>I should've been the one. </em>Star held Hayden's hand in concern, stroking the palm with his own thumb. "Hey, Tenshi wanted to be the hero... So, just let her be... Alright?" Star smiled, calming the ravenette down. "Alright..." Hayden sighed, putting his ragged button up back on. "Don't beat yourself up, okay?" Star reminded him, giving him a soft smile, the one he always loved. Hayden smiled back, giving him a hug before exiting the room. Star sighed, putting back all the medical stuff in it's bag and back on the cabinet in the room. He anxiously paced the tiny space, constantly mumbling under his breath. Sighing, he laid on the bed, seeing his sleeping daughter on it. Smiling, he remembered when they first adopted her. She was a lonely kid in the adoption center, parents left her there because they couldn't afford to raise a kid yet. The lady working there said the mother and Kiri cried as the father dragged his wife out the place, trying to hold back his tears. A few years after that, when she was 6, Star and Hayden had came to adopt a kid, picking Kiri as they thought she was sad and alone. The first few weeks, Kiri was scared of her new parents, she wouldn't talk with them during dinner or after school.</p><p>Eventually, Hayden learnt the kid's favourite things and tried to be friendly with her. She was happy when Hayden would share stories about when he was a kid to her about when he, himself, was a kid. How he wanted to be a rockstar or the embarrassing period of time when he thought he was a wolf person, she loved those stories. Getting closer to one dad means she was warming up to the other. Whenever Hayden was busy, Kiri would walk up to Star and asked him about his own stories, who would chuckle and tell her some, though he thinks they were pretty boring, Kiri thought otherwise. She thinks his stories were also cool, the time when he saved a cat off the tree or when he got lost, only to find out his destination was only a few meters from his house. Slowly, Kiri opens up more to her dads, who also tell other stories to her. It was nice.</p><p>Now, they're stuck in this pandemic. With no escape from those zombies.</p><p>*****</p><p>Reiu was asleep.</p><p>Leia sighed, seeing her sleep. Ever since Tenshi sacrificed herself, Reiu had been crying nonstop. It took Leia almost a good hour to calm her down, eat some dinner and get her to sleep. Leia stretched and exited the room, surprised at seeing Blake sitting in the living room. They all had a curfew after dinner, so that no one will go out on their own and get lost, or worse, killed. It was odd, to see Blake still up considering she was the one who set up the curfew. Leia went over and sat next to her, making her jump a little. "Hey, did I scare you?" Leia asked, her hand gently played with her pastel pink hair. "Ah, n-no, you didn't..." Blake chuckled nervously, the chuckle slowly turned into a sigh. "Do you think that... things could've gone way differently...?" the theater girl asked, her voice wavered as if she was ready to cry. Leia leaned in and hugged her, letting her shoulders be the place for her to cry. Blake sniffed, eventually hugging back. "Thanks... I... needed that..." she sighed, releasing herself from the hug. "I'll... be alright... I guess..." Blake muttered before standing up, "Good night." she waved, walking up the stairs to her room. Leia's eyes followed her, her eyebrows arched with concern. "I'm sorry... Blake..." she said to herself.</p><p>"I'm sorry that Eupho, also had to sacrifice himself."</p>
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